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Feb

23

The current academic honor code states that professors are not allowed to proctor exams in order to give the students a more relaxing testing environment. This also places the responsibility of reporting misconduct on the students themselves. Should exams be proctored by professors or should the system remain the same? Have you ever cheated on an exam, or seen anyone cheat on an exam? Please keep your answers anonymous….

Comments

5 Comments so far

annonymous on
February 23, 2009 4:17 am

No proctored exams! Students, in my experience are honest and do their own work, the trust awarded to us by our professors is a wonderful aspect of Midd. Keep it as is.

Kate Bass on
February 23, 2009 4:22 am

Exams should remain un-proctored. It is more relaxing– especially considering professors have a habit of doing noise making, distracting things that (completely naturally) they have to do while their students take the test. Also, by keeping the exams unproctored by professors, the responsibility of preserving the condition of the community. It gives us ownership of our environment– puts the decision in our hands. I think that is far more valuable than an imposed system of conduct from a higher authority.

I personally have never cheated on an exam nor seen anyone else cheat.

A. Nonny Mouse on
February 23, 2009 4:24 am

Proctoring exams is a bad idea. I’ve never cheated on an exam, don’t know anyone who’s cheated on an exam, and can’t imagine why anyone at Midd would cheat on an exam.
The relaxed testing environment is one of my favorite things about Midd. For example, being able to wander into Warner sometime after the “official” start of a math test, grab a copy of the test, sit down and bust out a few problems while listening to my iPod makes for a lot less stress, and because I’m relaxed and focused I can actually do better on the test compared to having a professor breathing down my neck the whole time. Clearly, not all classes set things up exactly this way, but the general principle remains the same.
The Honor Code is a crucial part of Middlebury because it represents a bond of trust between students and professors. Trying to learn in an environment where that mutual trust is missing is pretty miserable, in my experience.
If you take a way unproctored exams, the Honor Code is really nothing more than words written on a paper.

anonymous on
February 23, 2009 3:30 pm

I think the honor system is really important – if students cheat, we should be looking at how we develop our school values as much as we look at protecting against those values. It is a matter of respect that teachers don’t babysit students and I am afraid of how school dynamics might change if we ever lose that.

anonymous on
February 23, 2009 4:14 pm

The students that cheat usually will walk to the bathroom to check out their cheatsheet. Proctors in the bathroom would be more helpful than in the classroom.